Netflix has revealed it plans to introduce ‘interactive’ advertising driven by generative AI to its platform next year.
The streaming giant Netflix made a number of advertising-related announcements during its second annual Netflix Upfront event for advertisers and media buyers held in New York this week. One of these is AI-generated advertising, which will debut during shows streamed on its platform in 2026.
In 2007 when Netflix launched its streaming service, it upended how viewers watch films and series. No longer fixed to TV schedules, they could now watch what they wanted when they wanted to.
This viewing could all be done uninterrupted by advertising. However, this changed at the end of 2022 when Netflix launched its ad-supported streaming plan.
Viewers did not seem to mind. In fact, its $7.99 ad-supported tier has grown rapidly from 40 million users in 2023 to over 94 million monthly active users globally as of May 2025.
Ad-supported subscriptions account for half of all new Netflix subscribers – a significant share of the company’s 301 million total global subscribers. According to Netflix, viewers using this ad-supported tier watch an average of 41 hours of content per month.
It is into the vast audience on this ad-supported tier that Netflix plans to introduce AI-generated advertising, specifically mid-roll (in the middle of a show) and when the user hits the pause button.
Speaking at the event, Amy Reinhard, Netflix’s president of advertising, said that “members pay as much attention to mid-roll ads as they do to the shows and the movies themselves”.
Introducing the ‘Netflix Ads Suite’, she said: “By controlling our own adtech, we’ll be able to deliver newer tools, better measurement and more creative formats. The Netflix Ads Suite is also designed to help you tap into the magic that makes Netflix Netflix. And it does that in a few big ways.”
One of these ways is to enable advertisers to “match datasets for behavioural insights and targeting capabilities against Netflix’s ads audience”.
Another is to leverage “generative AI to instantly marry advertisers’ ads with the worlds of our shows. This will create a better, more relevant experience for our members and drive the best results.”
Reinhard said that these mid-roll and pause formats will be interactive with “added overlays, call to action, second screen buttons” to enable the advertiser to “serve the right ad to the right member at the right time”.
She used the example of popular shows such as Stranger Things or Bridgerton in which the ad displayed will blend into the viewing experience, making the transition between content and advertising less jarring.
While this is good news for advertisers as they can push hyper-targeted messaging to a ready audience, it could raise concerns about privacy.
Info source: Engineering & Technology Magazine